Post on 12-Aug-2020
The National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy and Implementation Framework Mainstreaming Youth in the South African Economy 2009 – 2019
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................. 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................. 6 VISION….…………………………………………………………………………….11 MISSION…………………… ...................................................................... 11 OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1: INTERNATIONAL SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS ...................... 12
1. International Best Practice .................................................................. 13
1.1. United Kingdom ........................................................................... 13 1.2. Canada ........................................................................................ 15 1.3. India ........................................................................................... 17 1.4. Uganda ........................................................................................ 18 1.5. Nigeria ......................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 2: SOUTH AFRICAN SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS ....................... 22 CHAPTER 3: POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK ......................... 28 CHAPTER 4: TARGETS, DEFINITIONS AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR ECONOMIC MAINSTREAMING OF YOUTH.…………………34
4.1. Defining Youth Economic Empowerment Beneficiary Base .................. 34
4.2. Guiding Principles and Approaches to Youth Economic ....................... 35
Mainstreaming
4.3. Youth Economic Empowerment Targets ............................................ 37
CHAPTER 5: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF STAKEHOLDERS ....... 39 5.1. the dti ............................................................................................. 39
5.2. Roles of other National Departments in the Economic Cluster ............. 41
5.3. The Roles of Provincial Departments of Economic Affairs.................... 41
5.4. The Roles of Municipalities ............................................................... 42
5.5. The Roles of the Private Sector and State Owned Enterprises ............. 43
5.6. The Roles of the Youth Business Chambers and Associations.............. 44
5.7. The Roles of Government Agencies ................................................... 44
CHAPTER 6: NATIONAL YOUTH ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ............... 45 PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS .............................................................. 45
6.1. Research ......................................................................................... 46
6.2. Youth Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Education, ....... 47
Promotion and Awareness Support Programme (Outreach)…….……….47
6.2.1. Youth entrepreneurship awareness programme .............................. 48
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
3
6.2.2. In-school and tertiary entrepreneurship education Programme………………………………………………………………………….49
6.3. Youth Entrepreneurship Awards........................................................ 49
6.4. National Youth Service ..................................................................... 50
6.5. Financial Support Programmes and Products ..................................... 51
6.6. Non-Financial Support Programmes and Products .............................. 52
6.7. Access to Markets and Timely Payments to Youth Enterprises ......... 54
CHAPTER 7: CO-ORDINATION, MONITORING, EVALUATION, REVIEW AND REPORTING MECHANISMS ............................................................ 55
7.1. Co-ordination and Monitoring Mechanism .......................................... 55
7.3. Reporting Mechanism ...................................................................... 57
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................... 59 “APPENDIX A” ........................................................................................ 61
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
4
LIST OF ACRONYMS
AsgiSA Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa
AU African Union
BBBEE Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment
CCRD Corporate and Consumer Regulations Division
COTII Council of Trade and Industry Institutions
DoE Department of Education
EIDD Enterprise and Industry Development Division
GEM Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
ICCYEE Interdepartmental Coordination Committee on Youth Economic Empowerment
IDC Interdepartmental Committee on Youth Affairs
IDP Integrated Development Plan
ITED International Trade and Economic Development
Khula Khula Enterprise Finance Ltd
LED Local Economic Development
MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework
NEDLAC National Economic Development and Labour Council
NEF National Empowerment Fund
NSBAC National Small Business Advisory Council
NVCL New Venture Creation
NYC National Youth Commission
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
5
NYDA National Youth Development Agency
NYDPF National Youth Development Policy Framework
NYEES National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
NYP National Youth Policy
NYS National Youth Service
PCCYEE Provincial Coordination Committee on Youth Economic Empowerment
PPP Public Private Partnership
Samaf South African Micro-finance Apex Fund
SAYC South African Youth Council
SEDA Small Enterprise Development Agency
SETA Sector Education and Training Authority
SMME Small Medium and Micro Enterprise
TEO The Enterprise Organisation
the dti The Department of Trade and Industry
TISA Trade and Investment South Africa
UK United Kingdom
UYF Umsobomvu Youth Fund
YCUMSA Youth Chamber Unity Movement of South Africa
YES Youth Enterprise Strategy
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The South African population is currently estimated to be at 48.9 million
people1; out of this figure 37.5% (18.34 million) is estimated to be youth
suggesting that the substantial number of South Africa is the youth. However,
due to the legacy of the apartheid policies of the past and the existing gaps in
current policies this segment of our population is still faced with socio-economic
challenges such as high rate of unemployment, poverty and lack of business
opportunities and skills relevant to the market needs. Moreover, in the tapestry
of enterprises in South Africa youth own only an estimated mere 5.5%,
reinforcing the point that youth have limited access to business opportunities2.
Breaking the cycle of poverty, unemployment and squalor and increasing
business opportunities for youth to participate fully and meaningfully in the
economic landscape remain a challenge for South Africa.
This document is a National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
(NYEES) and Implementation Plan that commits the Department of Trade
and Industry (the dti) and its relevant stakeholders on the promotion and
economic empowerment of young people in South Africa. This national youth
policy instrument is anticipated to operate over the next ten years (i.e. 2009 –
2019). It will be coordinated nationally and reviewed after three years, five
years and ten years respectively by the dti with respect to its implementation
and performance.
This document builds up on the foundations and recommendations laid by the
National Youth Development Policy Framework (NYDPF) and the Youth
Enterprise Strategy (YES). To summarize a few, these recommendations include
issues such as: setting aside of procurement quotas for youth-owned and
1Community Survey, STATS SA, 2008
2 Status of Youth Report, Mathebula and Mahlangu, 2007
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
7
managed enterprises; encouraging provincial and local government authorities to
formulate youth economic empowerment strategies; ensure youth representation
in National Small Business Advisory Council (NSBAC) and other similar bodies;
scale up financial and non-financial support and services to youth enterprises;
build stronger partnerships with private sector and banks; develop monitoring,
evaluation and reporting systems to be used for youth economic empowerment.
The policy instrument also sets out clear strategic vision, mission and objectives
that will be pursued by the dti in partnership with all relevant public partners
(i.e. national, provincial, local tiers of government and its agencies) and extra-
parliamentary stakeholders (i.e. youth organizations, business, labour and civil
society) in the mandate of mainstreaming young people in the mainstream
economy. It further sets out clear indicators that would be utilized to measure
progress and performance with respect to the implementation of this policy
instrument, which will also inform the monitoring and review processes.
This policy instrument is a result of an extensive consultation process with all
relevant stakeholders both within and outside government. The key
stakeholders that were consulted in its formulation involve all tiers of
government; youth organizations; labour; non-governmental organizations
(NGO); youth, disabled and women organizations; business and NEDLAC
constituencies. A baseline study on youth economic reality and challenges has
been carried out and its preliminary findings informed this policy instrument.
This strategy is specifically designed to ensure that all existing economic policies,
strategies, programmes and institutions available in all tiers of government,
particularly those government departments that are in the driving seat of
economic development and are relevant to youth economic empowerment
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
8
actively and deliberately mainstream young people in all their economic
instruments and activities.
The critical objectives of this national policy instrument are to improve the
quantity and quality of youth enterprises and contribute towards reducing
poverty and unemployment among the youth. It also seeks to economically
support young people in order to unleash their potential to create economic
wealth, sustainable decent employment, increase their savings and investment
levels, and develop their human resource capacities, entrepreneurship and
technical knowledge.
the dti endeavours, through this national instrument, to pursue a partnership
with extra-parliamentary stakeholders to ensure that young people are
mainstreamed in the economic activities of all these critical players as well.
This document provides the vision, mission and objectives of this policy
instrument. Chapter One gives international best practices drawn from various
countries in order to inform this strategy and implementation plan on youth
economic empowerment in South Africa. Such an exercise is aimed at assisting
the dti to draw good practices that can be useful to the South African context,
avoid pitfalls that these countries have gone through with respect to this policy
area and ensure high level of success. Six countries were selected for this
purpose and were categorized into two components: developing and developed
countries. These countries were selected due to their unique interventions and
relative success in this area. Under these categories we have the United
Kingdom (UK) and Canada as developed countries and, on the other hand, we
have Uganda, India, Namibia and Nigeria as developing countries.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
9
Chapter Two, drawing from a commissioned baseline study, provides a
situational analysis of the nature and dynamics of youth economic empowerment
and development in South Africa. It purports that while a relative achievement
in the policy front related to youth development in general has been made,
however, progress specifically on youth economic empowerment still remain a
serious challenge which this instrument is geared to address.
Chapter Three highlights national and international legislative instruments that
relates to youth economic development, which this document seeks to align its
prescription with. South Africa, as a signatory to international conventions and
declarations has an obligation to the promotion and implementation of their
objectives. Whilst South Africa has put various legislative instruments in place, a
few of these have mainstreamed the youth while others do not promote youth
economic empowerment. With respect to those national legislative instruments
that have not mainstreamed the youth, this policy instrument will encourage
them to do so.
Chapter Four provides pertinent guidelines and principles that must guide and
underpin the implementation of this policy instrument as well as the economic
mainstreaming of youth by all relevant stakeholders in the country. These
principles and guidelines will be in line with the ones articulated in the NYDPF
and the YES. In addition, a broad generic target is recommended by the policy
instruments for adoption by all public institutions to guide mainstreaming of
youth, performance and implementation with respect to youth economic
empowerment. This target must also inform all public institutions with respect to
their economic policies, strategies and programmes.
Chapter Five identifies the roles that the dti, national and provincial
government, municipalities and youth organizations have to play in order to
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
10
coordinate, implement, monitor and review progress with respect to NYEES.
This policy instrument recognizes that the task of mainstreaming youth
economically cannot be achieved by the dti alone, but is the shared
responsibility involving all tiers of government and extra-parliamentary
stakeholders.
Chapter Six suggests new support programmes and projects that the dti’s
youth directorate must design, implement and monitor. The youth directorate
will implement these programmes and projects in partnership with national and
provincial departments, municipalities and agencies to assist in mainstreaming
youth economically, which primarily speaks to the arena of enterprise
development. Some of these programmes and projects will be derived from the
recommendations flowing from the NYDPF and the YES.
Chapter Seven provides mechanisms for co-ordination, monitoring, evaluation
and reporting progress on the implementation of NYEES. This section identifies
the evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of youth development and
empowerment programmes as the main objective for monitoring. Three
important aspects of monitoring and evaluation are mentioned i.e. Guiding
Principles of Monitoring, Monitoring and Evaluation Pre-requisites and Monitoring
and Evaluation Tools.
In order to translate the aims of this policy instrument into actionable
deliverables and ensure its maximum impact on the promotion of youth
economic empowerment and development, this policy instrument is accompanied
by Appendix A, which is a comprehensive implementation plan or framework
aimed at giving guidance to all stakeholders on the role they can play in giving
effect to youth development and empowerment in South Africa.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
11
VISION The vision of the National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy and Implementation Plan is to see: A South Africa that has an economically empowered and well developed youth
sector (i.e. youth owned enterprises, young entrepreneurs) supported by all
stakeholders and operating in all sectors of our economy, which contributes to
economic growth, poverty reduction and employment creation as well as assist in
bringing about economic transformation and an equitable society.
MISSION
Mainstream young people in the economy by ensuring that all policies,
strategies, legislation and agencies and/or institutions related to the
economic development integrate economic empowerment of youth. Key
policy instruments critical for mainstreaming youth are sector specific
strategies;
Strengthen and unleash the potential of youth’s participation in the
mainstream economy by raising the value and the profile of youth
economic participation in the whole economy and designing support
programmes suitable for this end;
Foster human capital development with a special focus on youth
entrepreneurship, business management and technical skills;
Foster a culture of partnership, and collaboration among youth
beneficiaries and other stakeholders through conducting awareness
programmes;
Conduct leading-edge research and business intelligence to inform the
economic development of young people as well as assist with the
evaluation and monitoring of performance on youth economic
empowerment and development.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
12
OBJECTIVES
The National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy and
Implementation Plan pursues the following objectives:
To increase in value, numbers, and variety youth owned enterprises in all
the sectors of the economy with the aim of increasing employment and
reducing poverty;
To increase entrepreneurial culture, business managerial capacities,
technical skills and talents among young people, thereby contributing to
sustainable human development;
To increase savings and investment among youth through encouraging
them to establish cooperative enterprises and other forms of enterprises;
To raise the profile of youth owned enterprises and young entrepreneurs;
To remove any barriers that prevents young men and women from
starting and growing their own businesses;
To increase access to market, finance and non-financial support to youth
owned enterprises; and
To coordinate, facilitate and account in terms of effective mainstreaming
of youth into all the dti policies, strategies, programmes, and its
institutions including its sister provincial and local tiers of government.
CHAPTER 1: INTERNATIONAL SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
13
1. International Best Practice
In the formulation of this policy instruments, the dti has examined existing
international best practices on youth economic empowerment. Five countries
were targeted for this purpose and these include: United Kingdom, Canada
(developed) and Nigeria, India, Uganda and Namibia (developing). Most of
these countries were selected because they are relatively successful in rolling out
youth economic policies; have unique interventions that can be applied to South
Africa, and in certain areas have experienced some failures that assist South
Africa to avoid. Specifically, they have shown that to succeed in this area a
country will have to mainstream young people in its economic activities. These
countries have done this by drawing up national youth economic policies and
plans that were mainstreamed into the national economic development plans,
establishing inter-ministerial coordinating committees, creating youth focal points
and crafting special arrangements between government, private sector and civil
society dedicated to drive youth economic empowerment and development.
1.1. United Kingdom
The United Kingdom (UK)3 is a case in point, which confirms the view that youth
economic empowerment can only succeed with the support of government
creating conducive environment through the formulation and implementation of
a national youth economic policy instrument. These instruments are aimed at
mainstreaming youth in all existing policies, programmes and institutions. The
support programmes given to the youth covers the entire spectrum of support
from non-financial to financial support. The government is also partnering with
the private sector in economically empowering the youth.
3 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor United Kingdom Report, 2008
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
14
In early 1960s, the UK government introduced the national policy referred to as
United Kingdom Youth Development Policy (UKYDP)4 that outlines multiple
programmes targeting all aspect of youth economic development. As a result, in
1963 the Youth Enterprise Scheme5, which provides special assistance to young
entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 – 30 years. It sought to help them to
establish, grow and sustain their enterprises. It assists them to develop business
plans, provide market research, access to finance, financial planning and
management and ongoing mentoring.
The Alumni highly rate the program as a great contributor in establishing and
building their new ventures. In regard to this program, the following is worth
noting: since inception the programme has been able to reach more than 350,
000 young people per year through the involvement and support of 3, 000 UK
businesses. More than 5, 500 schools, colleges and universities participate in
Young Enterprise Scheme Programmes. Youth Enterprise Scheme Programme
alumni are twice as likely to start their own business.
Over and above the noted programme, a number of other programmes were
designed to support young people. Shell Live Wire6, which is a public private
partnership initiative between UK government and Shell Petroleum, aimed
providing information and advisory services to young people (ages 16 – 30
years) encouraging them to establish new businesses. The main products
provided involved: start your own business booklet, writing your own business
plan booklet. Since its inception the programme has succeeded to help 140, 000
young to start their own businesses.
4 United Kingdom Youth Development Policy
5 www.young-enterprise.org.uk
6 www.shell-livewire.org
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
15
Prince’s Youth Business Trust (PYBT)7 was established in 1976 to give
practical and financial support to young people between the ages of 14 – 30
years old. Since its inception the Trust has helped 575, 000 young people. More
than 78% which was supported in 2008 went into education and training, 68%
opened their own businesses.
In 2008 alone the Trust helped 40, 000 in the following areas: 11,500 young
people benefited through their clubs operating in 550 schools and centers
throughout the UK; almost 8, 000 young people benefited through a programme
aimed at providing young people with workplace skills; a total of 9, 300 young
people benefited from the business programme, of which 2, 400 started their
own businesses and 6, 900 gained through ongoing business mentorship
support; 3, 200 young people received awards used for skills and employability
development programme; Community projects owned by 2, 300 young people
received the funding and further 1, 200 benefited from the mentorship program;
Through innovative pilot programme 1, 100 young people benefited; and a
further 300 young people through a variety of local programmes.
1.2. Canada
Canadian case study posits the importance of government to formulate and
implement youth economic strategy focusing on economically empowering young
people. The strategy is referred to as Youth Employment Strategy8 targeting
youth. Specifically, it has introduced youth entrepreneurship programmes,
education programmes, entrepreneurship training, financing, conferences, and
broadcast and print promotion.
7 www.princes-trust.org.uk
8 http://www.youth.gc.ca
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
16
Canada is also teaching us that if government prioritizes youth economic
empowerment this has a positive spin-over effect of increasing entrepreneurs,
and solved the problem of unemployment and poverty in the country. Canada is
a case in point were government has actively encouraged all funding institutions
and banks to design funding products aimed at supporting youth. Through non-
financial support, emphasis is placed on encouraging big business to mentor
young people for a minimum of two years during start up period. On the
financial aspect, character and viability of business plan are used by Canadian
Youth Business Foundation (CYBF)9 as a basis for lending as opposed to
collateral as it is intended for youth who would otherwise not qualify for funding
using conventional lending approach.
The CYBF is a private sector funding organization created through a partnership
between several Canadian major banks to provide start-up mandatory
mentoring, financing and business resources for young Canadians. It
targets young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-34 years. The funding
products provided involve Flexible Start Up Financing which provides start-up
funding up to CN$15 000 (R120 000) at low interest charges and repayment
periods limited to 5 years. An Expansion Financing product is provided to
those entrepreneurs whose businesses succeeded with their Flexible Start-Up
Financing qualify for CN$10 000 (R80 000) expansion finance under this
program.
These interventions have made Canada to register relative success on youth
economic empowerment. In terms of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
(GEM) ranking10 of the countries with respect to the development enterprises
9 http://www.cybf.ca
10 GEM Report, Canada, 2003
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
17
and entrepreneurship uptake, Canada has improved its ranking from position 16
to 13 in comparison with other countries in the world. The GEM also indicates
that young people in Canada from the age of 25 – 34 category started 15.8% of
opportunity-based and 28% of necessity-based businesses respectively.
1.3. India
As a developing country, India has a lot of similarities with South Africa in terms
of level of development and economic challenges facing the youth of these
countries. Among other things, India was chosen because of the interventions
that it has put in place to address such challenges.
On the policy front and in prioritizing youth development and economic
empowerment, the Indian government created the Ministry of Youth Affairs11.
The Youth Ministry has developed the National Youth Policy (2003-2008)12 that
shapes youth economic development and specifies programmes in this regard.
The thrust of the Policy centers on Youth Empowerment in different economic
sectors. Embedded with the policy, is the Rural Non-farm Sector (RNFS)13
strategy that focuses on the rural and tribal youth, out-of-school youth, and
youth with disabilities. The policy also outlines effective coordination
mechanisms for the implementation of policies and programmes of the various
Ministries and Agencies. The National Youth Policy has identified RNFS has
proved to be effective in increasing the rate of growth in the past ten years in
states like Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat wherein RFNS is seen to have
11
Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs 12
Indian National Youth Policy, 2003 13
Rural Non-Farm Sector In India, Vinoj Abraham, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, 3rd
-5th
April, 2008
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
18
contributed significantly to their economic development and relatively lower
poverty levels.
Programmes that have been implemented for youth, targets sectors and covers
all aspects from non-financial to financial support. Within the agricultural sector
RNFS supports agricultural sector through the following; incentives for increasing
productivity and savings, instruments to improve technologies and modernize
inputs. RNFS through a programme called Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP)
created significant benefiting the youth in the Bamboo, Tendu leaves, Medicinal
and plant species. RNFS created enterprise opportunities for youth in sectors
such as mining, food processing, forestry and traditional industries.
In addition RNFS provides a programme on skills development with particular
focus on entrepreneurship development, education and training, managerial skills
and technical skills.
Business Development Services (BDS) forms an important element of enterprise
development within RNFS. In this regard it provides subsidized credit, marketing
support, facilities for training and mentorship for youth owned enterprises.
These programmes and interventions have enabled India to achieve youth
economic empowerment and to occupy GEM 200814 ranking as number 6 in the
world.
1.4. Uganda
Uganda has prioritized youth economic development which has made it rank
number 2 in the world in terms of the 2005 GEM Report15. This responsibility of
14
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report, 2008 15
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Uganda Report, 2005
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
19
promoting youth economic empowerment is the mandate of the Ministry of
Gender, Labour and Social Development16. This Ministry is responsible for youth
affairs and spearheads the overall policy implementation, monitoring, evaluation
and review, in addition to mobilizing resources necessary for the implementation
of programmes. The Ministry developed the National Youth Policy17 to promote
youth economic development. The policy contains an action plan with specified
actions, timeframes and budget allocations. It also defines the target groups
(youth), and strategies aimed at mainstreaming youth economically in the
country. The National Youth Policy also guides, harmonizes, complements and
enhances the actions and roles of all the stakeholders with respect to youth
economic development.
The Ugandan government has introduced a Youth Enterprise Scheme18, a non-
financial instrument, aimed at providing business development support services
for the aspirant young entrepreneurs and already operating businesses owned by
the youth. These business development support services include business skills
training, enterprise and entrepreneurship development and mentorship for the
youth.
In addition to the provision of non-financial support programme, the government
also provides financial support in the form loans to young entrepreneurs and
tertiary students through a programme called Micro Credit Financial Institution.
In this area of finance, the long term objective is to establish the Youth Trust
Bank providing various financial products that will meet the financial business
needs of young people.
16
Ugandian Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development 17
Uganda National Youth Policy, Kampala, 2001 18
Uganda Youth Enterprise Credit Scheme
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
20
In order to ensure the effective mainstreaming of the youth in the policy and
legislative arena and the economy at large, the government has put in place the
National Youth Council19, tasked to monitor, review and report progress on youth
economic empowerment and development. It also plays the role of lobby and
advocacy for the implementation of the National Youth Policy.
1.5. Nigeria
The Nigerian government recognized that in order to effectively empower young
people (between the ages of 18 to 35); there was a need to formulate The
National Policy on Youth Development20. Nigeria developed the National
Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy 2 (NEEDS 2)21 aimed at
transforming its economy and growing small businesses in the country. Youth
have been mainstreamed into this strategy through the Youth Position Paper.
The Youth Position Paper22 articulates the following policy recommendations
worth noting and some can be useful to South Africa. Under the aspect Youth
Economic Empowerment, the following policy prescriptions are proposed: reserve
30% quota in the economy and policy development processes; engage youth as
professionals and not as recipients of agendas; review all sector policies to
accommodate the interests of young people and entrepreneurs; establish special
funding skills to enable access to funding for young entrepreneurs; interests
charges on sector scheme loans for young people should be reduced and
subsidized, introduction of business and entrepreneurship education programs in
secondary schools and tertiary institutions; and existing financial schemes should
be tailored to support young entrepreneurs.
19
Uganda National Youth Council Act, 1993 20
Nagerian National Youth Policy, February 2001 21
The Nigeria’s Second National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy 22
Youth Position Paper, Second National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, May 2007
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
21
In summary, the international benchmarking carried out on mainstreaming youth
economically, has revealed the following interesting conclusions which South
Africa may emulate if it is to succeed in this area:
It is imperative to formulate a National Youth Economic Empowerment Policy
that details actionable implementation plan which guides and integrate all
activities from all tiers of government and other key stakeholders (e.g. private
sector and youth organizations) in this regard;
To establish a National Youth Council tasked to monitor, review and report
progress on youth economic empowerment and development as well as play
a role of lobbying and advocacy;
To establish inter-ministerial coordinating committees comprising
representatives of all relevant government departments to ensure that
governments deal with youth issues in a consistent and coordinated manner;
To create youth focal points within relevant departments/ministries to provide
guidance and monitor on regular basis youth-related programmes within the
Departments, and represent the department in the various structures;
To provide non-financial support to young people covering all critical aspects
such as mentorship, drafting of business plan, entrepreneurial skills,
managerial training, incubation and technology support;
To provide accessible financial support that covers all spectrum and phases of
funding from start up, expansion and recovery of ailing entities. These
products must be formulated by all development finance institutions (DFI),
and must have criteria that take into account difficulties confronting the youth
in qualifying for the support. For example, instead of insisting that the youth
provide collateral, creatively the quality of the business plan may be utilized
as qualifying criteria for funding. Public Private Partnership (PPP) can be
used as vehicles to provide funding products to young people;
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
22
To put in place a database aimed at tracking public investment and spending
received by young people;
To ensure that all sector strategies and policies prioritise the economic
mainstreaming of young people;
To reserve 30% quota for young people in the process of economic policy
formulation and representation in the policy structures;
To set 30% targets that must inform the process of mainstreaming the youth
in the policies, programmes and budgets which include, procurement
opportunities, incentives, financial products and business development
support and other relevant support (e.g. business delegation, inbound and
outbound trade missions, etc.); and
To introduce business and entrepreneurship education and incubation
programs for free businesses advise in secondary schools and tertiary
institutions.
CHAPTER 2: SOUTH AFRICAN SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
This chapter examines the nature and dynamics of the youth economic
empowerment in South Africa. In this respect, it paints a picture on the degree
to which, whether, young people are economically mainstreamed in the country
or not. It also identifies some of the critical policy instruments and economic
sectors/areas that have economically mainstreamed youth and those that have
not done so and the impact this has had on young people. With respect to those
policy instruments and sectors that have not mainstreamed youth, it identifies
the barriers that are contributing to this reality with the aim of addressing them.
Moreover, the chapter will measure progress with respect to youth economic
empowerment in the country using the following indicators: growth of youth
enterprises; levels of business skills available among youth; degree of youth
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
23
entrepreneurship development; levels of unemployment and poverty confronting
young people including the availability and lack thereof of business opportunities
extended to young people; and institutional mechanism built to promote and
support youth economic empowerment.
The above analysis will assist in terms of pointing out clearly measures and
interventions that this policy instruments will have to suggest in addressing the
noted gaps and challenges facing youth with respect to economic empowerment
in the country.
South Africa is now on its 15th year since the advent of democracy, progress on youth economic development still remains at very low levels. Although youth constitutes 37.5% (18.34 million) of the South African population23, the number of young people involved in business is significantly low at 8% (1.47 million) of the total of youth population in the country24. Youth has registered mere 5.5% of total business ownership in the country. In examining South Africa, 2007 GEM Report25 found that in 2006, out of the country’s 5.0% in Total Entrepreneurship Activity (TEA) youth constitute 10.1%. Generally, the same report ranked South Africa at number 24 out of 32 countries on Nascent Entrepreneurship and number 29 on established businesses. These rankings prove that there is still a challenge on entrepreneurial activity in South Africa and the same can be said about youth entrepreneurship. This performance points the distance that South Africa has to travel to raise the level of youth entrepreneurship in the country to the desired and acceptable level to meet global standards. The report further suggests that there are multiple factors contributing towards South Africa’s low level of entrepreneurship in general including the youth: dual-logic of SA economy, entrepreneurial mindset of the population; level of education; knowledge and skills; government policies and legislation; Capital and Funding; and Business Development Support (BDS). Another reason put forward for low entrepreneurship rates among youth was a lack and absence of positive messages in the communities on entrepreneurship.
Unemployment and the associated poverty are among the greatest socio-
economic challenges facing youth in South Africa. In South Africa, 70% of the
23
Community Survey, STATS SA, 2008 24
Status of Youth Report, Mathebula and Mahlangu, 2008 25
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2007 Report
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
24
unemployed are youth26. The figure can be broken as follows: youth from the
category of 15-19 that are unemployed include 58%, category 20-24 represents
50%, and category 25-34 represents 30%.
Factors contributing to this high level of unemployment among youth involve:
lack of education, the rate of population growth amongst youth far exceed the
number of jobs created by the economy, lack of job search capabilities and
networks, lack of mobility and resources to look for a job, mismatch between
skills obtained and skills required by the market and unfavourable economic
conditions.
Poor performance on youth economic empowerment in South Africa is also due
to the fact that very few Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) reports
mention youth27, which indicates that departments pay limited attention to youth
development and economic empowerment. Where departments do implement
youth programmes, they tend to grossly under-report actual expenditure for
specific items benefiting the youth; which clearly indicates that the economic
empowerment of young people is not prioritized.
Four out of five mid-term strategies of the dti, i.e. International Trade and
Economic Development (ITED), Consumer and Corporate Regulations Division
(CCRD), The Enterprise Organization (TEO) and Trade and Investment South
Africa (TISA), which aims to promote direct investment and growth in the
economy with an emphasis on employment creation. There is no specific
mention of youth. With respect to the fifth strategy, which is Enterprise and
Industry Development Division (EIDD), although a Youth Directorate has been
established to drive the mainstreaming of youth in the department, most of the
26
Investing in sustainable lively hoods, Review of government allocations and expenditures towards youth
development, Umsobomvu Youth Fund, November 2008 27
Midterm Estimates of National Budget Expenditure Review, CASE, 2006
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
25
strategies/policies and programmes within the division have yet to systematically
target and mention the youth as beneficiaries.
Almost all the dti agencies, particularly those involved in enterprise development
arena (i.e. SAMAF, Khula, SEDA, IDC, NEF, etc.) have not elevated youth as
beneficiaries that will be systematically targeted for support in all their products
and services and reported accordingly. Also critical to youth economic
empowerment is to ensure that enterprises owned by young people also enjoy
the benefits of procurement opportunities and the 30-day payments where they
have provided services to the dti and its agencies, which is currently not the
case. All these, points out to the need for the dti and its agencies to earnestly
undertake a process of mainstreaming youth in all policies, strategies and
programmes and budget accordingly.
Although promotion of youth economic empowerment is supposed to be driven
by the dti, other national departments and public agencies that form part of the
economic cluster have not adequately prioritized youth economic empowerment
in their sector strategies, programmes and budgets. Where youth benefit, it is
by default and not by design i.e. set out as clear beneficiaries, given specific
target or quota in terms of the budget, criteria relaxed to suit their unique
challenges and output. There is no data of performance generated on youth
economic empowerment in the specific sectors to be utilized for monitoring,
evaluation as well as reporting.
Most provincial departments and municipalities do not have strategies, policies,
programmes and designated youth directorates tasked with the mandate of
youth economic mainstreaming. For example, most municipalities have not
integrated youth economic development in their Integrated Development Plans
(IDP) and Local Economic Development (LED) strategies. In the case where
municipalities have put together programmes for youth economic development,
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
26
these have small budgets and their impact has been miniscule given the
challenge. More troubling is that data that can be used for monitoring, review
and reporting on progress on youth economic development have not been
developed by municipalities and provinces.
To conclude, youth economic empowerment remains the biggest challenge that
has not been resolved by government. After 15 years of the new democratic
dispensation our performance in this area is still poor. The youth enterprise
ownership is still at 5.5%, high level of unemployment among the youth, there
still is a mismatch of skills that young people possess and those required by the
economy. The biggest impediment is a lack of youth being mainstreamed in all
existing core strategies, policies and programmes in the three spheres of
government and agencies. Where programmes do exist they tend to be given
miniscule budgets and with less focus on youth economic development.
Although important, they tend to only focus on areas such as HIV/Aids,
awareness campaigns on crime and youth sporting activities, etc. There is no
systematic collection of data used for monitoring, review and reporting on
performance in this area. All this, points to a need for all tiers of government
and their implementing agencies to earnestly undertake a process of
mainstreaming youth in all policies, strategies and programmes and budget
accordingly. This strategy document seeks to address these impediments by
encouraging and guiding all tiers of government to mainstream youth
economically in all their core policies, strategies and programmes.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
27
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
28
CHAPTER 3: POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
This chapter seeks to do two things. First, it highlights national and international
legislative instruments and policies relating to youth economic development with
the aim of ensuring that this document aligns with those instruments. Secondly,
it tabulates legislative instruments and policies that are relevant to youth
economic development within the country but, have not yet prioritized youth
economic mainstreaming with the aim of encouraging them to do so.
South Africa, as a signatory to international conventions and declarations related
to youth economic development is therefore obligated to ensure alignment with
those legislations and policies in its endeavour to implement youth economic
empowerment. The most important aspect for aligning this strategy with the
selected domestic instruments is to ensure a seamless flow and integrated
approach with respect to the implementation of youth economic empowerment.
Since the advent of democracy in South Africa, there has been a number of
policies and legislation developed both local and international which promotes
the socio-economic development of young people in general and economic
development in particular. The focus is to outline these legislative and policy
instruments which form the basis and are aligned with this policy.
Constitution of Republic of South Africa (1996): it is the supreme
law of the country entrenching specific rights, responsibilities and
principles that everybody must uphold. It lays the foundation for youth
economic empowerment. For example, Chapter (13) section 217 calls
for redress of economic imbalances of the marginalized members of the
South African population which is inclusive of the youth. It also contains
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
29
the Bill of Rights which enshrines the rights of people (including the
youth) and affirms the values of human dignity, equality and freedom.
National Youth Policy (2009 – 2014): it supports key interventions
that provides for the holistic development of youth. The policy proposes
for specific interventions that promotes the development in four pillars
i.e. education, health and well being, economic participation and social
cohesion. It makes recommendations that form part of these aforesaid
pillars which feeds into programme and project design. It is expected
that the inclusion and active participation of young people in decision
making processes, policy, programmes and project implementation will
be realized. It also defines youth beneficiary base.
National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Act 2008: the NYDA
Act makes provision for the formation of the NYDA whose mandate,
among other things, is to provide business development support
(financial and non-financial) and close the identified gaps and limitations
confronting the youth development sector.
White Paper on National Youth Service (1999): the White Paper
call for the implementation of the National Youth Service (NYS). Among
other things this intervention was designed to contribute not only to
skills development, but also to economic development of young women
and men.
Commonwealth Youth Charter (2005): Commonwealth Youth Charter
provides guidelines for the development of youth policies in all
Commonwealth countries. It also promotes participation of young people
at all levels of decision making processes. It recognizes the following
principles and values for youth development in general: gender inclusivity,
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
30
economic empowerment, human rights, sustainability and integration.
South Africa, as member of the Commonwealth, is expected to uphold and
recognize the principles and values of youth development such as
economic empowerment, human rights, sustainability and integration.
African Youth Charter (2005): the Charter draws from various
international agreements and commitments that commit African
governments to ensure mainstreaming of youth development and
economic empowerment into government policy, strategy and
programmes. This charter is consistent with all the provisions of the
South African constitution and the economic programmes being
implemented.
The following are some of the policy and legislative instruments that are relevant
to youth economic empowerment; however, they are yet to fully mainstream
youth economically. They are highlighted here with the view to encourage them
to do so and consequently will contribute in deepening youth economic
empowerment:
Municipal System Act 2000: Chapter four of the Local Government
Municipality System Act, 32 of 2000 encourages a culture of community
participation in the programmes of the municipalities. The
mainstreaming of youth economic empowerment programmes into IDP
and LED strategies for municipalities is one of the development tools that
can be used to develop a culture of stakeholder participation in
governance including young people.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
31
Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act 2003:
addresses the imbalances of the past by creating a platform for the
participation of black people in the economic mainstream in the country.
Two elements (i.e. Preferential Procurement and Enterprise
Development) are of importance for young people which require explicit
provision of targets for young women and men owned enterprises and
this should be rectified in line with the recommendation of the NYEES.
National Small Business Amendment Act (2004): creates the
enabling economic legislation that promotes the development of Small
Medium and Macro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the country. The challenge
with this act is that it does not include youth as beneficiary and the
policy instrument (i.e. SMME Strategy) falling under the act has not yet
incorporated recommendations from Youth Enterprise Strategy.
National Skills Development Act (1998): establishes Sector of
Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) aimed at providing market
related skills that are intended to benefit the people including young
women and men. The challenge with most of the SETAs is that they are
yet to develop and implement the New Venture Capital Learnership
(NVCL) programme to equip, among others, young people with business
related skills, which must be coupled with practical placements to acquire
experience.
Cooperatives Act, No.14 of 2005: this act provides a conducive
environment for the promotion and development of co-operatives in South
Africa by laying the legal basis for the creation of the following policy
instruments; the regulation, policy, strategy and programmes. Although
the act recognizes young people as core beneficiaries, however, youth co-
operatives as forms of enterprises have not been defined.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
32
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative South Africa (AsgiSA):
is a programme that outlines a number of special interventions
undertaken to address the constraints (e.g. skills, low demand in the
economy, currency fluctuation, etc.) with the aim of achieving a growth
rate of 6% or more by 2010, halve unemployment by 2014 and reduce
poverty. These aforementioned interventions must be tailor made to also
economically empower youth through mainstreaming them.
Sector Development Strategies and Policies: these instruments are
designed by national and provincial tiers of government, particularly those
within the economic cluster, aimed at growing and developing the specific
sectors through the provision of opportunities and support in general to
business. The additional impact is that growing these sectors will result in
growing the economy, creating sustainable employment and reducing
poverty. However, most of these sector specific strategies and policies
have not prioritized youth as beneficiaries and have not designed
mechanisms to benefit youth enterprises specifically.
To conclude, the chapter has selected a number of pertinent domestic and
international legislative and policy instruments that relates to youth economic
empowerment with the view to align this strategy with the core principles
outlined within the aforementioned instruments.
It has also identified domestic legislative and policy instruments that deals with
economic development and empowerment and which have not yet economically
mainstreamed youth with the view to encourage them to do so. In certain
instances, suggestions have been recommended on how to achieve the
mainstreaming.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
33
The implications of the above point are that future domestic legislative and policy
instruments related to economic development and empowerment, guided by this
policy instrument, must also ensure that they take into consideration the
prioritization and mainstreaming of the youth, which will assist in the process of
accelerating youth economic participation and empowerment in the country.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
34
CHAPTER 4: TARGETS, DEFINITIONS AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE ECONOMIC MAINSTREAMING OF YOUTH 4.1. Defining Youth Economic Empowerment Beneficiary Base
The South African National Youth Policy of 2007 – 2012 defines youth as young
people falling within the age group of 14 – 35 years28. Although the policy
provides the generic definition of young people, however, it is silent on
categorising or defining young people in business, this document will attempt to
close the gap as a way of enhancing the National Youth Policy.
This definition of youth espoused in the National Youth Policy is broad and
inclusive. It includes two distinct categories of young people, i.e. minors and
adult youth. Minors include young people of ages of 14 – 17 years and adult
youth include the age group from 18 – 35 years.
This NYEES refers to youth as constituting two categories, i.e. primary youth and
secondary youth. Primary youth is defined as those young men and women
between the age group of 18 to 35 years, who can enter into a business contract
independently without the requirement for parental, guardian or representative
assistance and consent (i.e. youth within the age of majority). Secondary youth
constitute young men and women within the age group of 14 until 17 years, who
can enter into a business contract solely with the support and consent of
parents, guardian or representative (i.e. youth below the age of majority).
The primary youth as an age group will constitute the core target group that will
benefit from all aspects of this strategy. Whereas, the secondary youth will
benefit on partial basis, meaning that they will benefit from certain programmes.
28
National Youth Development Agency Act, 2008
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
35
The aforesaid definition incorporates and prioritised young men and women that
are unemployed, living with disabilities and located in rural and urban areas and
in general those that aspires to own and manage their own businesses as well as
those that are currently operating their own enterprises.
Over and above the definition of youth as natural person(s), this policy
instrument also provides the definition of youth in terms of juristic person(s), i.e.
various forms of youth enterprises, as part of the beneficiary base.
The definition of the juristic persons, i.e. youth enterprise is categorised into two
component parts: Youth Empowered Enterprise and Youth Owned
Enterprise29. Youth Empowered Enterprise is a form of an enterprise that
constitutes 25-50% ownership and control by young women and/or men. A
Youth Owned Enterprise is a form of an enterprise in which 51% or more of the
ownership and control is in the hands of young men and/or women.
4.2. Guiding Principles and Approaches to Youth Economic Mainstreaming
This policy instrument adopts an approach that aims to achieve youth economic
empowerment and development through encouraging and guiding all tiers of
government including implementing agencies to mainstream young people in all
their core policies, strategies and programmes.
It also advances an approach that encourages all the aforesaid institutions to
prioritise youth economic empowerment by developing special interventions on
youth where the impediment can be effectively and solely resolved using such a
model.
29
Youth Enterprise Strategy, November 2006
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
36
Youth economic empowerment can be relatively achieved if all tiers of
government that have the responsibility of mainstreaming youth in all their core
programmes do it in such a way that they strictly adhere to the following guiding
principles:
(a) Youth Economic Empowerment through Mainstreaming is a
Shared Responsibility: achieving youth economic empowerment
is not the task of the dti alone, but it is the responsibility that must
be shared by all national departments within the economic cluster,
provincial departments, municipalities and its implementing
agencies, as well as extra-parliamentary stakeholders (i.e. civil
society, private and business sectors and youth organizations).
(b) Participatory and Collaborative Approach: economic
mainstreaming of young people through various policy instruments
and forums, must take place involving the full participation and
consultation of young people through their organizations and
institutions. Special attention should be taken to ensure that
disabled young women and men are consulted and accorded full
participation and benefit.
(c) Human Rights and Diversity: youth economic empowerment
must promote non-discrimination, adhere to democracy and good
governance and protect human rights. It must also promote
gender parity between young men and women including the
disabled on economic opportunities. It must instill a sense of
worth, purpose and direction to young people.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
37
(d) Responsiveness and Relevance: all policies, strategies,
programmes and special interventions aimed at economically
empowering the youth, with special attention to the disabled, must
respond to the unique challenges confronting them and act in their
best interests.
(e) Accountability: government and its agencies that are involved in
youth economic development must put in place systems to monitor,
report and record progress made on youth economic
empowerment.
(f) Youth as a Target Group: all core programmes designed for
economic development and empowerment must place youth as one
of primary benefactors. All the categories of youth as defined in
this document must benefit, with special attention given to the
disabled.
(g) Transparency: all tiers of government including its agencies and
extra-parliamentary players involved in youth economic
empowerment must operate in a transparent and accountable
manner.
4.3. Youth Economic Empowerment Targets
This policy instrument is propagating a model that seeks to
ensure that in the medium to long term, 30% as a quota/target
must be reserved and obtained with the purpose of benefiting
the youth;
All relevant core policies, strategies, programmes and
institutions dedicated to economic development are encouraged
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
38
to achieve a minimum of 30% target/quota as a contribution to
youth economic empowerment;
This minimum 30% target/quota should be codified in the
policies, strategies and programmes designed for economic
development by all tiers of government and its agencies;
On the operational side, the minimum 30% target/quota in
terms of budget allocation for each product/programme
designed for enterprise development and support must be ring-
fenced to benefit the youth. The allocated expenditure must be
rolled out, monitored, reviewed and reported annually;
The minimum 30% is not applicable to products/programmes
and agencies specifically created to cater for young people in
terms of support. They are expected to support young people
meeting a target of 100% since this is their core mandate.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
39
CHAPTER 5: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF STAKEHOLDERS Underpinning the implementation of this strategy is the principle that youth
economic empowerment is a shared responsibility, which entails the idea that
youth economic empowerment can be accelerated meaningfully if all key
stakeholders contribute their part by playing specific critical roles and
responsibilities. The above principle also encourages these stakeholders to
partner with each other and synergize, where possible, to ensure effective youth
economic empowerment.
The aforementioned principle also entails the recognition that the role of
promoting youth economic empowerment is not only the responsibility of the
dti, nor all the tiers of government, but it also includes, development agencies,
state owned entities, private sector, labour, civil society, youth formations and
international organizations. Broadly, the roles and responsibilities envisaged
from the stakeholders are varied and they involve coordination, facilitation, and
implementation, monitoring, review, and reporting on performance and progress.
Therefore, this chapter identifies all relevant stakeholders that can contribute
towards the promotion of youth economic empowerment and allocate as well as
delineates in this regard.
5.1. the dti
As a custodian of overall economic development, the dti also has a responsibility
to lead the promotion and advancement of youth economic participation and
empowerment in South Africa. In this regard, the dti has formulated this
NYEES to encourage and guide to all stakeholders, including its internal
development agencies, divisions and business unit on how to mainstream young
men and women in all their core economic development policy instruments.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
40
The roles and responsibilities of the dti (carried out by the youth directorate)
include the following:
To promote and support youth economic empowerment in South Africa;
To formulate all relevant youth economic empowerment policy
instruments and programmes and ensure their implementation;
To provide technical support to all national departments and their
agencies within the economic cluster, state owned enterprises, provincial
departments of economic affairs and their agencies and municipalities to
formulate their own youth economic empowerment policies, strategies
and programmes;
To ensure that all the above-mentioned institutions allocate appropriate
budgets for youth economic empowerment and report accordingly;
To co-ordinate, monitor, review and report progress made on youth
economic empowerment in partnership with the aforementioned public
institutions;
To establish interdepartmental and provincial coordinating structures for
an integrated approach for the implementation of the NYEES, programmes
and any interventions aimed at the economic empowerment of young
people;
To establish a formal structure consisting of all the developmental COTII.
To encourage and guide the private sector to support and achieve youth
economic empowerment;
To engage donor organizations to solicit technical and financial support for
the youth economic empowerment initiatives and programmes in a way
that aligns with this strategy;
To establish an Information Technology System for capturing, monitoring,
reviewing and reporting purposes.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
41
5.2. Roles of other National Departments in the Economic Cluster
To develop youth economic empowerment policies, strategies and
programmes aligned with the NYEES;
To mainstream youth in all their core programmes designed for economic
development;
To establish youth directorates in the department responsible to drive
youth economic empowerment;
To establish partnerships with the private sector, youth organizations in
their endeavour to achieve youth economic empowerment;
To implement, monitor and report progress to the dti on youth economic
empowerment in line with their sector mandate;
To effectively participate in the interdepartmental coordination committee
on youth economic empowerment in order to coordinate and facilitate the
implementation as well as share information on best practices and report
progress on youth economic empowerment.
5.3. The Roles of Provincial Departments of Economic Affairs
To promote and support youth economic empowerment in the province;
To develop youth economic empowerment policies, strategies and
programmes aligned with the NYEES;
To mainstream youth in all their core programmes designed for economic
development;
To establish youth directorates in the department responsible to drive
youth economic empowerment;
To establish partnerships with the private sector, youth organizations in
their endeavour to achieve youth economic empowerment;
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
42
To implement, monitor and report progress to the dti on youth economic
empowerment in line with their economic provincial mandate;
To co-ordinate, monitor, review, collate data and report progress made on
youth economic empowerment in the respective province including work
of other sister departments, agencies and municipalities;
To establish and ensure effective participation in the provincial
coordination committee (comprising of other provincial departments,
agencies and municipalities) on youth economic empowerment in order
coordinate provincial activities, share information on best practices and
report progress in this regard;
To effectively participate in the dti’s provincial coordination committee on
youth economic empowerment in order to coordinate and facilitate the
implementation as well as share information on best practices and report
progress on youth economic empowerment;
To establish provincial database on youth economic empowerment linked
aligned to the dti’s;
To ensure alignment of youth economic empowerment programmes into
municipal policies and programmes.
5.4. The Roles of Municipalities
To promote and support youth economic empowerment in the
municipalities;
To develop youth economic empowerment policies, strategies and
programmes aligned with the NYEES;
To mainstream youth in all their core LED and IDP programmes;
To establish youth directorates/desks in the districts and local
municipalities to coordinate and facilitate youth economic development
activities;
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
43
To establish partnerships with the private sector, youth organizations in
their endeavour to achieve youth economic empowerment;
To implement, monitor and report progress to the Provincial Department
of Economic Affairs on youth economic empowerment in line with their
economic mandate.
5.5. The Roles of the Private Sector and State Owned Enterprises
To promote and support youth economic empowerment in the private
sector;
To develop youth economic empowerment programmes that support this
strategy;
Encouraged to provide a minimum of 30% procurement opportunities and
enterprise development support and corporate social investment to youth
enterprises which can be claimed from the BBBEE Codes of Good Practice
and sector codes;
To enter into public-private-partnership initiatives aimed at supporting the
economic empowerment of young people;
To encourage mainstream business and state owned enterprises to
support and partner with youth business formations in programmes (e.g.
business mentorship, training, technical skills, etc.) aimed at empowering
young people;
To reflect progress on supporting youth economic empowerment in their
own annual reports and information technology data that can be available
to the public;
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
44
5.6. The Roles of the Youth Business Chambers and Associations
To develop programmes aimed at economically empowering young men
and women with special focus to unemployed graduates, out of school
and disabled youth;
To partner with the mainstream business in programmes aimed at
empowering young people;
To play a lobby and advocacy role in the youth policy arena.
5.7. The Roles of Government Agencies
To promote and support youth economic empowerment in the private
sector;
To mainstream youth in all relevant core programmes and products;
To develop new youth economic empowerment programmes/products, if
and where necessary, that support this strategy;
To partner with financial institutions (e.g. banks) to provide business
development support services and programmes targeting youth
enterprises;
To implement, monitor and report progress to the dti on youth economic
empowerment in line with their mandate.
This chapter has clearly identified stakeholders and institutions including their
roles and responsibilities as contribution to promote and achieve youth economic
empowerment. In this regard, it recognizes and emphasizes the importance of
the principle that the youth economic empowerment is a shared responsibility
involving all tiers of government, agencies and the private sector.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
45
CHAPTER 6: NATIONAL YOUTH ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS
The approach of this strategy is that the bulk of the support programmes aimed
at promoting youth economic empowerment will be implemented by various
components of the dti and its agencies within the existing core programmes
designated for enterprise and economic development. Similarly, the other aspect
of these programmes will be found and implemented by all the national and
provincial departments and their agencies falling within the economic clusters,
including municipalities, who also have the responsibility of mainstreaming youth
in their core programmes for economic development.
This strategy also recognizes that, over and above, the core programmes where
youth should be mainstreamed, unique programmes are encouraged to be
developed to deal with certain existing gaps and constraints that may not
necessarily be addressed by the process of mainstreaming. In some instances,
they may assist and enhance this process.
This chapter, therefore, seeks to only provide unique cross-cutting programmes
that deal with specific constraints and gaps within the area of youth economic
empowerment and also helps the process of mainstreaming youth in existing
core programmes located within all tiers of government and involving the extra-
parliamentary players. Some of these programmes and projects will be derived
from the recommendations flowing from the National Youth Policy Framework30
and the Youth Enterprise Strategy31 and will be driven and implemented by the
dti youth directorate in partnership with national and provincial departments,
municipalities and agencies.
30
Draft National Youth Policy Framework 2007-2012 31
Youth Enterprise Strategy, November 2006.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
46
This chapter also details seven strategic programmes, which respond to all
segments of the youth sector, which specifically involve wide issues such as
profiling youth economic initiatives, communication outreach, improving access
to information, research, entrepreneurship education and training and monitoring
and reporting the impact of all programmes aimed at supporting youth economic
empowerment.
6.1. Research
Research plays an important role in assisting government policy, strategy and
programme development. In all the facets of the economy, an ongoing research
will be conducted to improve youth economic empowerment by the government.
Statistical data will be generated that will inform South Africa on the entry, exit,
survival, failure rate of youth owned enterprises, youth entrepreneurship,
unemployment and job creation. The data will also be generated to identify
business opportunities available for young people, provide adequate information
on youth economic empowerment in South Africa, identify areas where progress
is constrained and make recommendations accordingly. Research will also be
carried out in order to assist with implementation, review, monitoring and
reporting. the dti will collaborate with both local and international network of
research institutions and entrepreneurship experts to generate information on
various aspects of youth economic empowerment.
At the moment, there is very limited information and statistics on youth owned
and influenced enterprises as well as youth economic empowerment in general.
Hence, there is a need for proper up to date, comprehensive and regularly
updated statistical information on youth economic empowerment in South Africa.
Although the dti will lead in the area of conducting research with respect to
youth economic empowerment, however, other national and provincial
departments within the economic cluster including municipalities are also
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
47
encouraged to carry out research within their specific areas of competencies in
partnership with the dti.
6.2. Youth Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Education, Promotion and Awareness Support Programme (Outreach)
Entrepreneurship in South Africa remains underdeveloped and less seen as a
viable option by young people to economically empower themselves. In general,
youth economic empowerment is a concept that is least supported and
appreciated by institutions and all relevant stakeholders, both within the public
and private sector. It is in this context that the entrepreneurship education,
promotion and awareness programme will be relevant to raise youth
entrepreneurship as well as promote youth economic empowerment in general
by raising awareness of these aspects.
The entrepreneurship education, promotion and awareness programme will be
carried out using various marketing and communication tools such as,
exhibitions, workshops, conferences, networking sessions/seminars, study tours,
road-shows, etc. Other instruments will involve periodicals, journals,
newspapers, pamphlets, brochures, books, films, broadcasts, television and radio
for creating atmosphere favourable to youth entrepreneurship and economic
empowerment. On education in particular, the current curriculum should include
entrepreneurship education for young people in schools, colleges and
universities.
The task of increasing the promotion and awareness of youth entrepreneurship
and economic empowerment is a shared competency that cuts across
departmental boundaries and involves the national and provincial departments
within the economic cluster and their agencies, including municipalities. In this
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
48
regard, while the dti will lead the process of driving the promotion and
awareness of youth entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, it intends
doing that in partnership with the aforesaid stakeholders. Such partnerships
must also involve, where possible, youth owned organizations and other private
sector stakeholders.
The implementation of this programme will be carried out through two
constituent sub-programmes, which involve the following:
Youth entrepreneurship awareness programme;
In-school and tertiary entrepreneurship education programme;
6.2.1. Youth entrepreneurship awareness programme
This sub-programme aims to achieve two things: to promote and create
entrepreneurship awareness targeting specifically potential young
entrepreneurs (including unemployed graduates and youth) with the aim
of encouraging them to consider entrepreneurship as an alternative
vehicle to employment. In addition, through awareness, promote existing
business development support programmes/services available to existing
young entrepreneurs. the dti (through its youth directorate) and its
agencies in partnership with the NYDA, South African Youth Council
(SAYC) and the Youth Chamber Movement of South Africa (YCUMSA) will
lead in this regard. Other national and provincial departments in the
economic cluster are encouraged to drive their specific sector and
provincial entrepreneurship awareness programmes as well in line with
the dti.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
49
6.2.2. In-school and tertiary entrepreneurship education programme
This sub-programme referred to as in-school and tertiary entrepreneurship
education must form part of the formal curriculum of the Department of
Education (DoE) in all schools and tertiary institutions. It is meant to be a
foundation for the development of the entrepreneurship culture,
introduces learners to the concept of entrepreneurship and to promote
self-employment as the sustainable option in life. It targets in-school
going learners from grades 8–12 through to tertiary level.
The national DoE, responsible for formal education will lead the process of
implementation in partnership with the dti and other relevant
stakeholders.
6.3. Youth Entrepreneurship Awards
The current challenge in South Africa is that youth entrepreneurship is not
celebrated, provided recognition and the incentives in the form of awards it
deserves. Awards are an effective marketing tool to raise interest, educate
young people about the benefits of starting and running your own business.
They also provide a platform where successful young entrepreneurs are
showcased and become role models for other young people to emulate and thus
contribute towards an interest for young people to get involved in business. The
awards can consequently contribute towards the growth of youth owned
enterprises and contribute towards the social upliftment of society.
The task of recognizing and celebrating youth entrepreneurs through awards is a
shared competency that cuts across departmental boundaries and involves the
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
50
national and provincial departments within the economic cluster and their
agencies, including municipalities. While the dti will lead the process of
coordinating and implementing the awards, in partnership with the aforesaid
stakeholders, these stakeholders will also be expected to contribute in financing
their sector and provincial chapters. Such partnerships must also involve, where
possible, youth owned organizations and other private sector stakeholders.
6.4. National Youth Service32
The NYS programme is a government initiative aimed at engaging youth in the
delivery of services to communities to promote social cohesion; to inculcate in
young people an understanding of their role in the promotion of civic awareness
and national reconstruction; to inculcate a culture of service to communities; to
develop the skills, knowledge and abilities of young people to enable them to
make meaningful transition to adulthood; and to improve youth employability
through opportunities for skills development, work experience and support to
gain access to economic and further learning opportunities.
The criterion for NYS has three core components:
Service: youth contributing to service delivery;
Learning: youth accessing learning opportunities to support quality service
delivery and occupation skills; and
Exit opportunities: youth accessing economic opportunities such as
further learning, formal or self-employment.
Deriving from the above mentioned core components of NYS; the dti has the
obligation, internally, to mainstream youth learning and experiential
opportunities within all the dti’s divisions, agencies and programmes. Secondly,
32
1999 White Paper on National Youth Service
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
51
the dti will enter into partnership with other private sector organizations/entities
to implement NYS in the broader economy.
The other national and provincial departments in the economic cluster are also
expected to drive their own NYS programmes and monitor, review and report to
the NYDA, which is in charge of the overall monitoring and implementation of
this programme.
6.5. Financial Support Programmes and Products
Although there exist various financial support programmes and products within
the DFIs both national and provincial targeting all forms of businesses,
nonetheless, a few of these have mainstreamed the youth. In this regard,
mainstreaming means that the aforesaid programmes should have set out clearly
youth as primary beneficiaries, formulate funding criteria that take cognisance of
the challenges facing the youth, provide clear targets/quotas for young people to
be implemented, monitored, reviewed and reported accordingly.
The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) is envisaged to play a leading
role in the provision of financial products and programmes targeting youth
enterprises. In addition to the support provided by the NYDA, all national,
provincial and municipal DFIs are called upon to ensure that all their funding
programmes and products (i.e. enterprise and industrial development finance)
mainstream and benefit youth enterprises as defined in this document.
Although the list is not exhaustive, these are some of the DFIs implicated:
National Empowerment Fund (NEF), Industrial Development Corporation (IDC),
Khula Enterprise Finance (Khula), South African Micro Finance Apex Fund
(Samaf), Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), National Development
Agency (NDA), Ithala, Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP), Limpopo Economic
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
52
Development Agency (Limdev), Limpopo Business Support Agency (Libsa),
Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC), Red Door, Mpumalanga
Economic Growth Agency (MEGA), Free State Development Corporation (FSDC),
etc.
There is a need for the aforesaid agencies to explore means and ways to partner
with the private sector, as a way of crowding in private sector capital, to provide
funding for young people.
6.6. Non-Financial Support Programmes and Products
Despite government efforts to establish various institutions and programmes for
business development services/programmes, many young people still have not
accessed and/or benefited from these institutions and programmes. This is
demonstrated by lack of clear targets/quotas and criteria as well as monitoring,
review and reporting progress on youth support in their respective programmes.
The term Business Development Services (BDS) refers to a range of non-financial
services provided to enterprises at various stages of development. These
services may include technical training, mentorship, information provision,
technology transfer and upgrading, quality improvement support, business plan
development, access to markets, incubation and business linkages.
The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) is envisaged to play a leading
role in the provision of non-financial products and programmes targeting youth
enterprises. In addition to the support provided by the NYDA in this area, there
is a need for the agencies mentioned below to explore means and ways to
partner with the private sector, tertiary institutions and international bodies in
order to provide BDS to young people.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
53
Although the list is not exhaustive, these are some of the BDS institutions
implicated: National Empowerment Fund (NEF), Industrial Development
Corporation (IDC), Khula Enterprise Finance (Khula), Small Enterprise
Development Agency (SEDA), National Development Agency (NDA), Ithala, Trade
and Investment KZN (TIKZN), Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP), Limpopo
Business Support Agency (Libsa), Eastern Cape Development Corporation
(ECDC), Red Door, Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA), Free State
Development Corporation (FSDC), etc.
New Venture Creation (NVC) is a programme that was created to drive business
skills development in all sectors of the economy to benefit South Africans
including the youth. Progress has been made in the implementation of the new
venture creation programme and the youth have benefited. However, minor
challenges still remain with the programme which impact negatively on the
youth. The implementation of this programme in all the sectors is still yet to be
accomplished. If this could be achieved, youth in particular, can benefit
substantially.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
54
6.7. Access to Markets and Timely Payments to Youth Enterprises
All programmes geared for market access (i.e. procurement, trade missions, etc.)
are still yet to benefit youth enterprises that contribute in growing this sector of
our economy to acceptable levels. This is also applicable to government and
private sector turn-around payment period of youth enterprises that are still
challenged by lack of timely payment. The core factor contributing to this state
of affairs is demonstrated by lack of clear targets/quotas and criteria as well as
monitoring, review and reporting progress on youth support in their respective
programmes. Within the public sector, there is a need for procurement
legislation and policies to ensure that youth are beneficiaries in line with the
stated targets in this document. In particular, BBBEE Codes of Good Practice
and sector charters and strategies are encouraged to ensure that young people
have specific targets in the procurement element and enterprise development in
line with the prescripts of this document. The designated ten products to benefit
SMMEs and Co-operatives must also include youth enterprises as beneficiaries.
The programmes designed to encourage the reduction of the turn-around time
for payment to enterprises must also benefit youth enterprises equally.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
55
CHAPTER 7: CO-ORDINATION, MONITORING, EVALUATION, REVIEW AND REPORTING MECHANISMS
There is a need to track the progress with regard to the implementation and
impact of this strategy. Equally so, there is a need to ensure effective co-
ordination, reporting and review of this strategy. The aim of this chapter,
therefore, is to outlines mechanisms to be utilized to ensure effective co-
ordination, monitoring, review and reporting with respect to the rollout and
impact of this strategy.
7.1. Co-ordination and Monitoring Mechanism
The responsibility of developing the tools and mechanisms to use for
coordination and monitoring falls squarely under the dti supported by all
national and provincial departments within the economic cluster. National
departments will be coordinated through the Inter-departmental Coordination
Committee on Youth Economic Empowerment (ICCYEE). The NYDA will form
part of the aforementioned structure to enable closer coordination between the
dti, other national departments and the agency in terms of work. On the other
hand, the provinces, through their departments of economic affairs, will be
coordinated using the Provincial Coordination Committee on Youth Economic
Empowerment (PCCYEE). Similarly, the provincial structures of the NYDA must
form part of the PCCYEE.
Coordination is also necessary amongst the dti and its agencies and this will be
carried out through the dti/COTII Coordination Committee on Youth Economic
Empowerment.
The aforementioned coordination structures will have the responsibility of
monitoring the implementation of this strategy. A number of tools will be
developed by the dti in collaboration with the aforementioned institutions. A
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
56
framework for monitoring will be developed by the dti in this regard. All these
structures will hold quarterly meetings in which all stakeholders are expected to
attend and report on progress made in regard to the implementation of this
strategy.
In the area of broadening economic participation, there exist a number of
boards/councils whose mandate is to advise the Minister of Trade and Industry
on the developments and progress in this area. These structures also have a role
of coordination and monitoring. The segments of this area include small and
medium enterprise development, co-operatives development, broad-based black
economic empowerment and women empowerment. The structures for these
segments are; National Small Business Advisory Council (NSBAC), Co-operatives
Advisory Board (CAB), BEE Advisory Council and South African Women
Entrepreneurs Network (Sawen). It is important for youth to be represented in
these boards/councils.
Progress and the effectiveness of this strategy with regard to its implementation
will have to be tracked. To put it the other way around, there is a need for the
performance of this strategy to be evaluated and reviewed at intervals to
ascertain whether it is yielding the desired outcome as expressed in its
objectives. Evaluation and Review of this strategy will be carried out by the dti
in partnership with reputable research institutions, universities and the youth
chamber movement. It will also work in collaboration with the above-mentioned
coordination and monitoring structures using the following models:
Annual reviews which will be carried out at the end of each financial year;
Mid-Term Expenditure Reviews; in every three year budget cycle, the
performance of the strategy will be reviewed;
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
57
The ten-year major review will be carried out to determine whether the
strategy has met its objectives with the purpose of ascertaining whether
it should be ended, enhanced and extended to a particular period.
This strategy is intended to operate for a ten-year period starting from 2009 until
2019 with the aforesaid models used to review performance. The review of the
strategy will be carried out to ascertain the achievement of the set targets within
those core programmes as articulated.
7.3. Reporting Mechanism
Reporting is an information gathering process designed to account, monitor and
track progress on the implementation, outcome and impact of the NYEES with
respect to youth economic mainstreaming. Furthermore, it reveals gaps and
constraints and enables us to put corrective measures in place to address them.
Reporting on the performance of this strategy is viewed as a critical component
necessary for achieving youth economic empowerment. the dti will have the
overall responsibility of reporting progress on the strategy to parliament, cabinet
and the NYDA. the dti will use the following structures to gather the
information from its key stakeholders and partners for reporting purposes:
National departments will furnish information for reporting purposes to
the dti through the ICCYEE;
Provincial departments of economic affairs and their agencies will report
on progress made to the dti through the PCCYEE);
the dti agencies will furnish information on progress made to through
the dti/COTII Coordination Committee on Youth Economic
Empowerment.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
58
The following tools will be used as reporting mechanisms;
Quarterly Reports, to be submitted to the dti by the aforesaid
reporting structures every quarter of each financial year;
Annual Reports, to be submitted by the aforesaid reporting structures at
the end of each financial year;
Mid-Term Expenditure Report to be submitted by the aforesaid
reporting structures in every three year budget cycle;
Ten Year Major Report will be compiled by the dti to reveal whether
the strategy has met its objectives;
the dti will produce consolidated term reports drawing from the reports
submitted by the respective reporting structures and submit to the
Parliament, Cabinet and NYDA.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
59
CONCLUSION In conclusion, this strategy is envisaged to be operational for ten years starting
from 2009 until 2019. Its performance will be reviewed using three models,
namely, the annual reviews, mid-term expenditure reviews and a major ten-year
review.
More importantly, the strategy promotes and accelerates youth economic
empowerment in the economy by prioritising an approach that encourages
mainstreaming of the youth in the already existing core programmes designed
for industrial and enterprise development. It also encourages and allow the
formulation of new economic development programmes uniquely designed to
target the youth only in circumstances where such an approach will either
effectively address the existing deficiency or may have a much higher impact in
empowering young people.
Mainstreaming youth on existing core programmes is envisaged to take
prominence within the public sector supported by the private sector. In the
public sector the key role players envisaged to promote and carry out
mainstreaming of youth in their economic programmes are national and
provincial departments within economic cluster including its agencies as well as
municipalities.
Over and above the core existing programmes in which youth will be
mainstreamed, this strategy has also formulated unique cross cutting
programmes that will be implemented by the dti in collaboration with other
relevant stakeholders expected to add momentum to the process of
mainstreaming the youth economically.
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
60
the dti supported by the NYDA will lead the process of coordinating,
implementing and monitoring the rollout and impact of the strategy. The
monitoring and review of the strategy will be carried out so as to determine the
adherence to the guiding principles by all the stakeholders and to the extent to
which the set objectives and targets have been attained or lack thereof. The
institutional mechanisms that will be utilised with respect to the process of
coordination, implementation, review and monitoring have been well elucidated
in the document.
“APPENDIX A”
PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TABLE KEY PERFORMANCE
AREAS
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
ACTIVITIES OR PLANS
OUTPUTS PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
DEADLINE FOR
ROLLING OUT
BY WHO
Research To improve on
youth economic empowerment in
all facets of the
economy.
Carry out research
on the status of youth economic
empowerment in
South Africa.
Reliable statistical
data and information on the
status of youth
economic empowerment.
Research report 2010/2011
Financial year
the dti in
partnership with the
NYDA,
Institutions of High Learning
and Research organisations
Development and
implementation of Youth Economic
Empowerment policies and
strategies.
To create an
enabling policy and legislative
environment to economically
mainstream youth.
Development of
Provincial youth economic
empowerment policies/strategies
Development of District/Municipal
youth economic empowerment
policies/strategies.
Development of
Sectoral youth economic
empowerment
Youth Economic
Empowerment policies and
strategies developed and
aligned with the
NYEES.
Provincial youth
economic empowerment
policies/strategies.
District/Municipal
youth economic empowerment
policies/strategies.
Sectoral youth economic
empowerment
strategies.
Integrate youth in
2010 – 2012
Mid-term review
the dti
National
Departments in the
Economic
Cluster
Provincial Departments
of Economic Affairs
District Municipalities
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
62
policies/strategies.
Review of existing
sector strategies for
alignment with the NYEES.
Integration of youth economic
empowerment into the priority
programmes of the
respective principals.
all existing sector
strategies.
All the above
policies/strategies must be aligned to
the NYEES.
Access to Non-
Financial Support
Business Services
To assist young
entrepreneurs to
gain access to comprehensive
business development
support services to grow and sustain
their enterprises
Provide special
support to young
entrepreneurs in the area of market
research and feasibility studies.
Provide support in
the development of
viable business plans for emerging young
entrepreneurs.
Promote the uptake
of youth enterprises in the Incubation
programmes
Encourage young people to venture
into business in the
area Innovation and technology
Sustainable youth
owned-and-
managed enterprises
Comprehensive and
customised business
development support services for
youth owned-and-managed enterprises
by all development institutions
2010 – 2012
Mid-term
review
The dti
SEDA
NYDA
National Departments
in the
Economic Cluster
Provincial
Departments
of Economic Affairs
Provincial
Business Development
Agencies
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
63
The provision of land to rural
agriculcultural youth
enterprises
Provide quality product
development support for youth
enterprises
Provide
infrastructure and technological
support to youth
enterprises
Municipalities
South African
Bureau of
Standards
South African Quality
Institute
Council for
Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR)
Financial Support
for Youth Enterprises
To assist young
entrepreneurs to gain access to
funding in order to
establish and expand their
enterprises
Development
Finance Institutions (DFI’s) to
mainstream youth in
all their funding programmes
Development
Finance Institutions (DFI’s) to simplify
the qualifying criteria of their
funding programmes to accommodate
youth enterprises
Development
The mainstreaming
of youth in funding programmes
Accessible and
customised funding programmes for
youth enterprises
Increase the level
Increased number of
funded youth owned and managed
enterprises
Limited barriers to
gain access to start-up and expansion
capital by young entrepreneurs
A minimum 30% of
2010 – 2012
Mid-term review
the dti
NYDA
National Department
within the Economic
Cluster
Provincial
Department of Economic
Affairs
Municipalities
Khula
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
64
Finance Institutions
to ring fence a minimum of 30% of
their funding budget
for youth enterprises
Provide a compulsory long-
term mentorship support to funded
youth owned-and-
managed enterprises.
of capital
investment towards the
development of
youth enterprises
Sustainable youth owned-and
managed enterprises
DFI’s funding budget
set-aside for youth enterprises
SAMAF
National
Empowerment Fund
Provincial
Business Development
Support
Agencies Provincial Investment Promotion Agencies
Access to Markets
for Youth Enterprises
To increase the
market share for youth enterprises
and grow the
sector.
Youth enterprise
participation in the international and
national pavilions
through the EMIA and provincial trade
and investment promotion agencies.
A minimum of 30% of expenditure on
procurement made available for youth
enterprises
A minimum of 30%
of business delegations allocated
Youth enterprises
must have a minimum 30%
share on
procurement.
Increased number of sustainable
youth enterprises.
Increased number
and variety of youth owned enterprises in
all the sectors of the
economy.
Increased number of sustainable youth
owned and managed enterprises.
2010 – 2012
Mid-term Review
the dti
All National
Departments
All Provincial
Departments
All State
Business Development
Institutions including
Funding Agencies
All District Municipalities
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
65
to youth.
A minimum of 30%
of the 70% targeted
10 products for SMMEs and
Cooperatives extended to youth
enterprises.
NYDA
Private Sector
Youth Entrepreneurship
Education
To create a culture, awareness
and knowledge of
entrepreneurship among youth.
Introduction of entrepreneurship
curriculum in high
schools and institutions of higher
learning.
Introduce the New
Venture Creation programme and
other skills development
programmes to
empower out of school youth.
Mainstream youth in skills development
programmes of all
the Sector Education Training Authorities
Produce
Incorporation of entrepreneurship
education in the
curriculum.
Skills development
training and business
development programmes for
out of school
youth.
Sector specific skills development
programmes for
youth
Increased number of entrepreneurial
initiatives and
projects started by learners and
students.
Increased
entrepreneurial uptake of the
programmes by out of school youth.
Increased employment among
youth through
entrepreneurship and absorption in
the labour market
2010 – 2012 Mid-term
Review
the dti
NYDA
Department of
Higher Education
Department of Basic
Education
Department
Women, Youth and People
with Disabilities
Department of
Labour
Sector
Education Training
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
66
entrepreneurship
educational programmes for TV
and radio
Access to
educational programme for
youth in the rural
areas
Increased level of
entrepreneurship awareness and
activities among youth in the rural
areas
Authorities
(SETA’s)
SABC
Promotional and awareness support
programme
(Outreach)
To create awareness and
platforms for
entrepreneurship promotion.
Road-shows Summits
Conferences
Workshops Exhibitions
Increased number and variety of
youth owned
enterprise in all sectors of the
economy.
Increased entrepreneurship
uptake by youth.
2010 – 2012 Mid-term
Review
the dti
NYDA
Department of
Women, Youth and People
with Disabilities
All State Business
Development Institutions
including
Funding Agencies.
Private Sector
Youth
Entrepreneurship Awards (YEA)
To recognise and
celebrate youth entrepreneurship
excellence and success.
Formulation of
Selection Criteria for Young
Entrepreneurs.
Increased number
of participants and recipients of Youth
Entrepreneurship Awards.
Annual National and
Provincial Youth entrepreneurship
awards hosted.
2010 – 2012
Mid-term review
the dti
NYDA
Department of
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
67
Formulation of
Business Categories.
Marketing and
Advertising of YEA Awards.
Appoint the
Adjudication Panel.
Selection of
Nominees (Young entrepreneurs)
Provincially and Nationally.
Awards Ceremonies (Provincial and
National).
Incubation and the Profiling of Winners.
Women, Youth
and People with
Disabilities.
All State
Business Development
Institutions including
Funding
Agencies.
Private Sector.
SABC
National Youth
Service
To empower young
people through voluntary
participation in
business and economic
development programmes.
Formulate Projects
that encourage volunteer
participation.
Provide training of
the young volunteers in core
projects as part of the NYS.
Placement of graduates as part of
Increased number
of young volunteers.
Awarding of
Certificates.
Awarding of
Certificates.
Increased number of
youth involved in service delivery.
Increased number of
youth participating in learnerships and
incubation programmes in the
different economic
sectors.
2010 – 2012
Mid-term review
the dti
All National
Departments
All Provincial
Departments
All State Business
Development
Institutions including
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
68
the NYS.
Funding
Agencies
All District
Municipalities
NYDA
Private Sector
Monitoring and Evaluation
To ensure measured, proper,
effective and
consistent implementation of
the NYEES.
Establish ICCYEE and PCCYEE for
monitoring and
evaluation purposes provincially and
nationally.
Formulate
Monitoring and Evaluation Tools.
Mainstreaming of youth in
programmes,
policies against minimum targets
as set out by the NYEES.
Remedies, where
necessary, put in
place so as to help fast track
implementation.
A standard national
monitoring and evaluation tool
developed.
NYEES properly used as a means to
economically
mainstream youth.
Increased number of youth and youth
enterprises benefiting from core
programmes and
policies.
A monitoring and
evaluation tool at the disposal of
stakeholders.
2010 – 2012 Mid-term
Review
the dti
All
Departments in the
economic cluster
All other
National
Departments
All Provincial Departments
All state development
institutions including
funding agencies
All District Municipalities
First Draft- National Youth Economic Empowerment Strategy
69
NYDA
Private Sector
Review and Reporting
Mechanisms
To ensure consistency,
relevance and improvement on
youth economic
empowerment.
To track progress and account for
youth economic
mainstreaming.
Develop a national database of
economic empowerment
projects and youth
enterprises.
Develop a review and reporting format
and methodology.
Develop an
electronic system for reporting progress
on youth economic empowerment.
Identify the dti structures and
partners for review and reporting.
Reviews and reports developed
and submitted to the dti or a
structure
appointed by the dti.
the dti publishes reviews and reports
developed in accordance with the
timelines as
prescribed by the NYEES.
Annual review
Mid-term
Review
Ten year
review
the dti
All National Departments
All Provincial Departments
All state
development
institutions including
funding agencies
All District
Municipalities
NYDA
Private Sector